Alexandra Lvovna Tolstaya
Encyclopedia
Alexandra Lvovna Tolstaya , (July 18, 1884 – September 26, 1979), also known by her nickname Sasha, was the youngest daughter and secretary of the noted Russia
n novelist Leo Tolstoy
.
Although Alexandra Lvovna shared with her father the doctrine of non-violence, she felt it was her duty to take part in the events of World War I
. For her courage, the Russian government awarded her three St George Medals and the rank of colonel.
The Bolsheviks imprisoned Alexandra in 1920, but she was installed as the director of the Tolstoy museum in Yasnaya Polyana
the next year. She left Russia in 1929, and settled in the United States
, where she founded the Tolstoy Foundation
.
In later years, she helped many Russian intellectuals (notably Vladimir Nabokov
and Sergei Rachmaninoff
) to escape Bolshevik persecution and to settle in America.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n novelist Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
.
Although Alexandra Lvovna shared with her father the doctrine of non-violence, she felt it was her duty to take part in the events of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. For her courage, the Russian government awarded her three St George Medals and the rank of colonel.
The Bolsheviks imprisoned Alexandra in 1920, but she was installed as the director of the Tolstoy museum in Yasnaya Polyana
Yasnaya Polyana
Yasnaya Polyana was the home of the writer Leo Tolstoy, where he was born, wrote War and Peace and Anna Karenina, and is buried. Tolstoy called Yasnaya Polyana his "inaccessible literary stronghold". It is located southwest of Tula, Russia and from Moscow.In 1921, the estate formally became his...
the next year. She left Russia in 1929, and settled in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where she founded the Tolstoy Foundation
Tolstoy Foundation
The Tolstoy Foundation is a non-profit charitable, philanthropic organization. It was established on April 26, 1939 by Alexandra Tolstoy, youngest daughter of the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. Its headquarters are in Rockland County, New York in Valley Cottage....
.
In later years, she helped many Russian intellectuals (notably Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...
and Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
) to escape Bolshevik persecution and to settle in America.
External links
- Bio at Tolstoy Foundation web site
- Picture of Alexandra Tolstoy in Valley Cottage
- The human spirit is free, Alexandra Tolstaya's appearances by Radio Svoboda's microphone. Introduction by Ivan Tolstoy, April 28, 2008.